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Yellow sac spider (Cheiracanthium punctorium) bites in Slovenia: case series and review

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Summary

In Central Europe, reports of human envenomation by Cheiracanthium punctorium, commonly known as the yellow sac spider, are sporadic, despite the fact that this species is widespread in Europe. However, in recent years, C. punctorium has been repeatedly described globally in medical and toxicological literature. Its venom was found to possess insecticidal, haemolytic, cytotoxic, and membrane-damaging activities. Its bite is often very painful, frequently associated with local and transient cutaneous and neurotoxic effects, but sometimes also with systemic symptoms which require medical help. The main objective of this article is to introduce more details about C. punctorium, the clinical manifestations and circumstances of its bite, the characteristics of its venom and proposed clinical management. The authors provide case reports of patients bitten by C. punctorium during the 10-year observational period. All patients presented in this article showed generally mild clinical manifestations and recovered completely without sequelae. No further treatment in terms of hospital surveillance or specific clinical measures was necessary in any of the reported cases.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Clinical Toxicology and Pharmacology, Division of Internal Medicine, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Zaloška cesta 7, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Tanja Varl MD, Damjan Grenc MD & Miran Brvar MD, PhD

  2. Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Jamnikarjeva 101, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Rok Kostanjšek PhD

  3. Institute of Pathophysiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Zaloška cesta 4, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Miran Brvar MD, PhD

Authors
  1. Tanja Varl MD
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  2. Damjan Grenc MD
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  3. Rok Kostanjšek PhD
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  4. Miran Brvar MD, PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Miran Brvar MD, PhD.

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Conflict of interest

T. Varl, D. Grenc, R. Kostanjšek, and M. Brvar declare that they have no competing interests.

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Varl, T., Grenc, D., Kostanjšek, R. et al. Yellow sac spider (Cheiracanthium punctorium) bites in Slovenia: case series and review. Wien Klin Wochenschr 129, 630–633 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00508-017-1217-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00508-017-1217-8

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